Purdue: OWL
Purdue: OWL is a free online writing lab that helps users around the world find information to assist them with many writing projects. Information available on Purdue: OWL includes the site's history, rules for grammar and punctuation, and MLA and APA format.http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ History Dr. Muriel Harris (former director and founder of the Purdue Writing Lab) and David Taylor (former graduate student in Educational Computing) started the world's first Online Writing Lab (OWL) in 1994. Their goal was to provide a resource for students who sought writing help but couldn't make it into the physical Writing Lab during operating hours. Since that time, OWL has become a complement to classroom instruction, a supplement to face-to-face tutorials, and a stand-alone reference for thousands of writers worldwide. The OWL has grown into a popular web site that received over 128 million hits from over 125 countries in 2008-2009. The number of hits grew to 161 in 2009-2010 and continued to grow to over 184 million hits in 2010-2011. Mail Tutors answered over 3,000 writing-related queries via e-mail. In March 2010, the OWL launched the Purdue OWL YouTube Channel to uphold the OWL's mission of offering global writing support.http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/612/1/ Grammar OWL Grammar resources will help you use correct grammar in your writing. This area includes resources on grammar topics, such as count and noncount nouns, articles (a versus an), subject-verb agreement, and prepositions.http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/5/ Some more specific Grammar information that OWL offers includes: *Spelling: **Forms to remember ***Accept, Except ***Affect, Effect ***Advise, Advice ***Conscious, Conscience ***Idea, Ideal ***Its, It's ***Lead, Led ***Their, There, They're ***To, Too, Two ***We're, Where, Were ***Your, You're ***I/E Rule ***-ible, -able Rule ***Exceptions *Numbers: **How and When to Write Numbers ***Words ***Figures ***Days and Years ***Time of Day ***Addresses ***Identification Numbers ***Page and Division of Books and Plays ***Decimals and Percentages ***Large Round Numbers ***Notes on Usage *Adjective or Adverb: **Differences and Definitions ***The Basic Rules: Adjectives ***The Basic Rules: Adverbs ***Other Rules *How to Use Adjectives and Adverbs: **Adjectives with Countable and Uncountable Nouns ***The Basic Rules: Adjectives ***Some/Any ***Much/Many ***Little/Few ***A lot of/lots of ***A little bit of ***Plenty of ***Enough ***No *Appositives: **Definitions and Explanations ***What is an Appositive ***Punctuation of Appositives *Articles: A versus An: **How Do You Know When to Use the Indefinite Articles? ***"A" goes before words that begin with consonants ***"An" goes before words that begin with vowels ***Exceptions *How to Use Articles (a/an/the): **Differences Between Indefinite Articles and Definite Articles ***Indefinite Articles: "A" and "An" ***Using "A" or "An" Depends on the Sound ***Definite Article: "The" ***Count and Noncount Nouns ***Geographical Use of "The" ***Omission of Articles *Prepositions: **Prepositions for Time, Place, and Introducing Objects ***One Point in Time ***Extended Time ***Place ***Higher Than a Point ***Lower Than a Point ***Close to a Point ***To Introduce Objects of Verbs ***At: glance, laugh, look, rejoice, smile, stare ***Of: approve, consist, smell ***Of (or About): dream, think ***For: call, hope, look, wait, watch, wish *Pronouns: **Using Pronouns Clearly ***Agree in Number ***Agree in Person ***Refer Clearly to a Specific Noun *Relative Pronouns: **Introduction and General Usage in Defining Clauses ***Restrictive Relative Clauses ***Non-Restrictive Relative Clauses ***"That" vs. "Who" and "Which" ***Special Uses of Relative Pronouns in Restrictive Clauses *Count and Noncount Nouns: **Adjectives with Countable and Uncountable Nouns ***The Basic Rules: Count and Noncount Nouns ***Count and Noncount Nouns with Adjectives ***Other Basic Rules *Subject/Verb Agreement: **Making Subjects and Verbs Agree *Verb Tenses: **Sequence of Tenses ***Simple Present ***Present Perfect ***Simple Past ***Past Perfect ***Future ***Future Perfect ***Review *Active Verb Tenses: **The Different Tenses Verbs Can Have ***Simple Present ***Present Progressive ***Simple Past ***Past Progressive ***Future ***Present Perfect ***Present Perfect Progressive ***Past Perfect ***Future Perfect *Irregular Verbs: **Over View and List ***Irregular Verbs in English Punctuation OWL Punctuation resources will help you with using commas, quotation marks, apostrophes, and hyphens.http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/6/ Some more specific Punctuation information that OWL offers includes: *Punctuation: **Brief Overview of Punctuation ***Comma ***Semicolon ***Colon ***Parenthesis ***Dash ***Quotation Marks ***Italics *Sentence Punctuation Patterns: **Eight Sentence Punctuation Patterns ***Simple Sentence ***Compound Sentence with a Coordinating Conjunction ***Compound Sentence with a Semicolon ***Compound Sentence with an Independent Marker ***Complex Sentence with a Dependent Marker ***Complex Sentence with a Dependent Marker ***Independent Clause with an Embedded Non-Essential Clause or Phrase ***Independent Clause with an Embedded Essential Clause or Phrase *Independent and Dependent Clauses: **Identifying Independent and Dependent Clauses ***Independent Clause ***Dependent Clause ***Dependent Marker Word ***Coordinating Conjunction ***Independent Marker Word ***Comma Splices ***Fused Sentences ***Sentence Fragments *Conquering the Comma: **Rules of Comma Usage ***Placement in Compound Sentences ***Placement After Introductory Elements ***Placement with Dependent Phrases and Clauses ***Placement Around Nonessential Elements ***Placement in a Series ***Placement with Adjectives *Commas: **Quick Guide to Commas *Apostrophe: **Apostrophe Rules and Usage ***Forming Possessives of Nouns ***Showing Omission of Letters ***Forming Plurals of Lowercase Letters ***Don't Use Apostrophes for Personal Pronouns ***Don't Use Apostrophes for the Relative Pronoun "Who" ***Don't Use Apostrophes for Noun Plurals ***Proofreading for Apostrophes *Hyphens: **Proper Hyphen Usage ***Join Two or More Words Serving as a Single Adjective Before a Noun ***Compound Numbers ***Avoid Confusion or an Awkward Combination of Letters ***Prefixes ex-, self-, and all- ***Suffix -elect ***Between a Prefix and a Capitalized Word ***Figures or Letter ***Divide Words at the End of a Line ***Make a Break Only Between Syllables ***Divide Already-Hyphenated Words Only at the Hyphen ***Hyphenate Between the Consonants ***Never Put the First or Last Letter of a Word at the End or Beginning of a Line ***Don't Put Two-Letter Suffixes at the Beginning of a New Line *Quotation Marks: **When and Where to Use Quotation Marks ***Using Quotation Marks ***Direct Quotations ***Indirect Quotations MLA OWL gives an overview of the Modern Language Association (MLA) Style for writing and formatting research papers. MLA is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. This page, covers what MLA Style is, why it is used, and who should apply this style to their work. OWL has various handouts on different aspects of MLA Formatting and Citations standards, both as sources appear in-text and in final reference page. Click here to read about the 2009 MLA updates. This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th ed.) and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (3rd ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page.http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/11/ The MLA Formatting and Style Guide offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, endnotes, footnotes, in-text citations, and the Works Cited page.http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ Listed on this page are: *General Format *Paper Format *General Guidelines *Formatting the First Page of Your Paper *Section Headings *How to Cite the Purdue OWL in MLA Also listed on the left side of the MLA Formatting and Style Guide page are links to: *MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics *MLA Formatting Quotations *MLA Endnotes and Footnotes *MLA Works Cited Page: Books *MLA Works Cited Page: Periodicals *MLA Works Cited Page: Electronic Sources *MLA Works Cited Page: Other Common Sources *MLA Additional Resources *MLA Abbreviations *MLA Sample Works Cited Page *MLA Sample Paper *MLA Tables, Figures, and Examples *MLA PowerPoint Presentation *MLA Undergraduate Sample Paper *MLA Classroom Poster *OWL Mail MLA FAQs APA OWL gives an overview of the American Psychological Association (APA) Style and where to find help with different APA resources. It provides an annotated list of links to all of our APA materials and an APA overview. It is an excellent place to start to learn about APA format. APA is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This resource, revised according to the 6th edition, second printing of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page. For more information, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition, second printing.http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/10/ The APA General Format offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, the reference page, footnotes, and endnotes.http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/1/ Listed on this page are: *General APA Guidelines *Major Paper Sections *Title Page *Abstract *How to Cite the Purdue OWL in APA Also listed on the left side of the APA General Format page are links to: *APA In-Text Citations: The Basics *APA In-Text Citations: Author/Authors *APA Endnotes and Footnotes *APA Reference List: Basic Rules *APA Reference List: Author/Authors *APA Reference List: Articles in Periodicals *APA Reference List: Books *APA Reference List: Other Print Sources *APA Reference List: Electronic Sources *APA Reference List: Other Non-Print Sources *APA Additional Resources *Types of APA Paper *APA Stylistics: Avoiding Bias *APA Stylistics: Basics *APA Headings and Seriation *APA PowerPoint Presentation *APA Sample Paper *APA Tables and Figures 1 *APA Tables and Figures 2 *APA Abbreviations *Statistics in APA *APA Classroom Poster *APA Changes 6th Edition *OWL Mail APA FAQs References